The Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederacy, was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by a number of Southern slave states that had declared their secession from the United States. The Confederacy recognized as members eleven states that had formally declared secession, two additional states with less formal declarations, and one new territory. Secessionists argued that the United States Constitution was a compact among states, an agreement which each state could abandon without consultation. The United States government rejected secession as illegal. Confederate forces seized U.S. forts within territory claimed by the CSA, and the American Civil War began in 1861 with the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter. By 1865, all Confederate forces had surrendered to U.S. forces, and the Confederacy collapsed. No foreign nation officially recognized the Confederacy as an independent country, but several did grant belligerent status. The Confederate Constitution of seven state signatories--South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas—formed a "permanent federal government" in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1861. Four additional slave-holding states--Virginia, Arkansas,Tennessee and North Carolina—declared their secession and joined the Confederacy following a call by U. S. President Abraham Lincoln for troops from each state to recapture Sumter and other lost federal properties in the South. Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states. Also aligned with the Confederacy were the "Five Civilized Tribes" and a new Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts to secede in Maryland were halted by martial law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty, did not attempt it. A Unionist government in western parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia which was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863. The Confederate government in Richmond, Virginia, had an uneasy relationship with its member states due to issues related to control of manpower, although the South mobilized nearly its entire white male population for war.
Confederate control over its claimed territory and population steadily shrank from 73% to 34% during the course of the Civil War due to the Union's successful overland campaigns, its control of the inland waterways into the South and its blockade of the Southern seacoast. These created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, supply and finance. Public support of Confederate President Jefferson Davis's administration eroded over time with repeated military reverses, economic hardship and allegations of autocratic government. After four years of Union campaigning, Richmond fell in April 1865, and shortly afterwards, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, and with that the Confederacy effectively collapsed. President Davis was captured on May 10, 1865, at Irwinville, Georgia. Four years later, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that secession was illegal, and that the Confederacy had never legally existed.
The U.S. Congress began a decade-long process known as Reconstruction which some scholars treat as an extension of the Civil War. It lasted throughout the administrations of Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Grant, and saw the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to free the slaves, the Fourteenth to guarantee dual U.S. and state citizenship to all, and the Fifteenth to guarantee the right to vote in states. The war left the South economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure and exhausted resources. The region remained well below national levels of prosperity until after World War II
Confederate control over its claimed territory and population steadily shrank from 73% to 34% during the course of the Civil War due to the Union's successful overland campaigns, its control of the inland waterways into the South and its blockade of the Southern seacoast. These created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, supply and finance. Public support of Confederate President Jefferson Davis's administration eroded over time with repeated military reverses, economic hardship and allegations of autocratic government. After four years of Union campaigning, Richmond fell in April 1865, and shortly afterwards, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, and with that the Confederacy effectively collapsed. President Davis was captured on May 10, 1865, at Irwinville, Georgia. Four years later, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that secession was illegal, and that the Confederacy had never legally existed.
The U.S. Congress began a decade-long process known as Reconstruction which some scholars treat as an extension of the Civil War. It lasted throughout the administrations of Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Grant, and saw the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to free the slaves, the Fourteenth to guarantee dual U.S. and state citizenship to all, and the Fifteenth to guarantee the right to vote in states. The war left the South economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure and exhausted resources. The region remained well below national levels of prosperity until after World War II
The Confederate States of America
1861-1865
Motto
Deo Vindice (Latin)
"Under God, our Vindicator"
Anthem
(None Official)
"God Save the South" (unofficial)
"The Bonnie Blue Flag" (popular)
"Dixie" (traditional)
Capital
Montgomery, Alabama
(Until May 29, 1861)
Richmond, Virginia
(Until April 3, 1865)
Government
Confederal Republic
-President-
(Jefferson Davis)
-Vice President-
(Alexander Stephens)
Legislature
Congress
-Upper House-
Senate
-Lower House-
House of Representatives
Currency
Confederate Dollar
State Currencies
1861-1865
Motto
Deo Vindice (Latin)
"Under God, our Vindicator"
Anthem
(None Official)
"God Save the South" (unofficial)
"The Bonnie Blue Flag" (popular)
"Dixie" (traditional)
Capital
Montgomery, Alabama
(Until May 29, 1861)
Richmond, Virginia
(Until April 3, 1865)
Government
Confederal Republic
-President-
(Jefferson Davis)
-Vice President-
(Alexander Stephens)
Legislature
Congress
-Upper House-
Senate
-Lower House-
House of Representatives
Currency
Confederate Dollar
State Currencies